When to go to the United States? The calendar, region by region
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The United States is more than three hundred times the size of Belgium: there isn’t one good season, there’s one per region. In May you can have snow at Bryce Canyon in the morning and 35°C in Las Vegas in the afternoon.
The right approach is to choose the region first, then check what is open on your dates.
The calendar at a glance
Each square is a month, from January to December.
| Region | Month by month | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Deserts of the Southwest Arizona, southern Utah, Nevada, Death Valley |
July-August: 40 to 50°C | |
| High-altitude parks Yosemite, Sequoia, Bryce, the Rockies |
November to April: roads closed | |
| Big parks of the North Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier |
October to May: most roads are closed | |
| Californian coast | June: frequent fog | |
| Northwest Oregon, Washington |
November to March: rain | |
| New England | Autumn colours from late September to mid-October, severe cold from January to March | |
| Big cities of the East New York, Washington, Chicago |
Muggy July-August, freezing January-February | |
| Florida | June to October: humid heat, storms, hurricanes | |
| The South Louisiana, Georgia, the Carolinas |
Stifling July-August | |
| Hawaii | Quieter in April-May and September-October, busy during American school holidays | |
| Alaska | The rest of the year, people mostly go for the northern lights |
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Season by season
🌸 Spring (March to May)
It’s the right season for the deserts.
- Pros: mild temperatures, cacti in flower, Yosemite’s waterfalls at their peak with the snowmelt.
- Cons: the mountains are still asleep. The Tioga Pass road in Yosemite, for example, often only opens in late May or June, sometimes later after a very snowy winter.
Our first road trip, from early May to mid-June, gave us a good idea: it was cold in the morning at Bryce Canyon and Yosemite, over 30°C in Las Vegas, and Highway 1 was often in fog in June.
☀️ Summer (June to August)
It’s the only period when everything is open in the Rockies and at Yellowstone.
- Pros: every mountain road is accessible and the days are long.
- Cons: it’s the most expensive and busiest season, and temperatures can be high.
🍂 Autumn (September to November)
Our favourite season on paper.
- Pros: fewer people once school is back, falling prices, bearable heat in the West and the autumn colours in New England (from late September in Vermont to late October further south).
- To watch out for: hurricanes on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, wildfires in California and the Northwest.
❄️ Winter (December to February)
It’s the right season for Florida, southern Arizona and Hawaii, and for the cities at Christmas if the cold doesn’t put you off.
- Pros: mild, dry weather in Florida, and the Utah parks under snow, superb and almost empty.
- Cons: some roads close and the days are short.
We did New York and Florida between Christmas and early January: woolly hat and down jacket in Manhattan, T-shirt in Miami a week later, little rain, few mosquitoes, and manatees gathered in the warm waters.
The closures to know about
These dates change every year with the snowfall. Always check on the park’s website (nps.gov) before fixing your itinerary.
| Road or area | Usually open |
|---|---|
| Tioga Pass (Yosemite) | From late May or June to November |
| Glacier Point Road (Yosemite) | From roughly May to November |
| Going-to-the-Sun Road (Glacier) | Fully open from late June or early July to mid-October |
| Yellowstone | Most roads open in stages between late April and late May, and close in early November |
| North Rim of the Grand Canyon | From roughly mid-May to mid-October |
| Beartooth Highway (Montana-Wyoming) | From late May to mid-October |
| Trail Ridge Road (Rocky Mountain) | From late May to October |
Seasonal risks
| Risk | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 🌀 Hurricanes | From 1 June to 30 November, peaking between mid-August and mid-October | Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast |
| 🌪️ Tornadoes | Mostly from April to June | The Great Plains (Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas) |
| 🔥 Wildfires | From July to October | The West: they can close a park or cover a region in smoke |
| 🌡️ Heatwaves | From June to September | The Southwest |
What to do in each case is in our article on extreme weather.
The dates that push prices up
Americans have little time off and all go away at once. Hotels and campgrounds are besieged on long weekends:
- Memorial Day (last Monday in May), which launches the summer season;
- the Fourth of July;
- Labor Day (first Monday in September), which ends it;
- Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November);
- the week from Christmas to New Year;
- spring break, in March, especially in Florida.